Tag-machine.



No. 642,870. Patented Feb. 6, I900. W. S. MCKINNEY.

TAG MACHINE.

Application filed Mar. 17, 1899.) (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheef I.

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m: "cams PETERS cu, vuorounmu wsnmaiou. D. c.

No. 642,870. Patented Feb. 6, i900.

W. S. MCKINNEY.

TAG MACHINE.

(Anulication filed Mar. 17, 1899.). (No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 HE nonms PEYERS cu, wnu'ram'nu. WASMiNGTON'. Dv cv No. 642,870. Patented Feb. 6, I900.

W. S. MCKINNEY.

TAG MACHINE.

(Application filed Mar. 17, .1899.)

(N0 Modl.)

4 Shoots-Sheet 3.

f M M No. 642,870. Patented Feb. 6, I900.

- w. s. MCKINNEY.

TAG MACHINE.

(App lication filed. Mar. 17, 1899.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

Nrrnn STATES IVAL'IER S. MCKINNEY,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TAG-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,870, dated February 6, 1900.

Application filed March 17, 1899.

To ttZZ whom it may cdnoern:

Be it known that I, WALTER S. MCKINNEY,

' a citizen of the United States, residing at Chimachines for stringing tagssuch as price and shipping tags, cards, calendars, and other articles and objects-by looping the string or cord through or around a portion of the card or article and knotting it thereon, the leading and characteristic features of the invention being those relating to the cord handling, looping, and knotting devices, in regard to which it is to be understood as of broad application capable of being adapted for use in any situation to which devices of this character may be applicable.

The invention consists inthe matters herein set forth, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan View of one form of machine in which my machine may be practically embodied. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is an end elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional elevation taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a similar view taken on line 5 50f Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a sectional detail taken on line 6 6 of Fig. 1. Fig. 7 is a sectional detail taken on line 7 7 of Fig. 1. Figs. 8, 9, and are sectional details taken on lines 8 8, 9 9, and 10 10, respectively, of Fig. 1. Fig. 11 is a perspective detail showing the relative positions of the needle and adjacent cord-handling parts at the beginning of the stringing operation. Figs. 11 and 11 show succeeding positions of these parts. Fig. 11 shows a still later position of these parts and of the .knotting-head. Fig. 12 is a somewhat diagrammatic detail showing the position of the knotting-head in end View at the beginning of the knotting operation with reference to the cord. Fig. 13 is a similar view showing the next stage in the operation, the knotting-fork having been brought into position. Fig. 14c is a plan View of this detail.

Figs. 15 and 16 are similar views in elevation and plan of the succeeding positions of the parts. Figs. 17 and 18 are similar views of Serial No. 709,424. (No model.)

still the next position of the parts. Figs. 19 and 20 are similar details of the next succeeding position of the knotting-head, the knotting-fork having been withdrawn. Figs. 21 and 22 are similar details showing the position of the knotter at the moment the shears are brought into operation to cut the cord. Fig. 23 is a detail end elevation of the knotting-head as the cord slips from its fingers. Fig. 24 illustrates the kind of knot tied, it having been assumed for simplicity of illustration in this and the preceding views of the knotting operation that but a single strand of cord is operated upon. Fig. 25 shows the double knot which is actually tied in practice. Fig. 26 is a sectional detail of the cordneedle. Fig. 27 is a detail elevation of the outer sleeve of the needle. Fig. 28 is a sectional detail taken on line 28 28 of Fig. 26. Fig. 29 is a bottom plan detail of the needle removed from its socket. Fig. 30 is a bottom plan section of the needle, showing its outer tube as rotated to close the slot in the needle. Fig. 31 is a top plan View of the table, showing a tag in place thereon. Fig. 32 is a fragmentary top plan detail of the clamping-jaws. Fig. 33 is a fragmentary detail, in side elevation, of the shear-operating-cam connection. The machine thus illustrated is particularly' designed for stringing such tags as have already been cut and perforated, the only function of the machine being to pass the cord through the perforation of the tag andknot it to form a loop securely attached to the tag. The tags to be strung are fed in one ata time by hand, the perforation of the tag being placed beneath a needle which descends to carry the free end of the cord through the perforation. This free end of the cord is then seized, carried upward around the edge of the tag, and held while a knot is tied in the bight or loop thus provided. As soon as the knot is completed the cord is severed above the knot and the tag removed with the loop properly strung through it.

In the drawings, A designates the main frame of the machine, and B the main driveshaft, which extends longitudinally of the frame and is revolubly mounted in bearings a thereon. Said drive-shaftmaybe actuated by any suitable connections with a source of power, it being herein shown as provided with a loose drive-pulley B and a clutch b, by which the pulley and shaft may be engaged or disengaged at will to start or stop the machine. The stringing-needle Cis mounted in the forward end of an oscillatory needle-arm C, that is pivotally mounted at the rear of the machine on a shaft or bar A, carried by brackets a on the main frame. This needlearm is given a rising-and-falling movement by a cam O on the drive-shaft, the arm being provided about midway of its length with a downwardly-projecting lug c, from which a wrist-pin or stud 0 projects laterally into a camgroove 0 in the face of said cam 0 Strengthening-ribs c and c are provided on the needle-arm, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, but are referred to only for the purpose of enabling said figures, particularly the latter figure, to be fully understood. The string or cord is brought down to the needle 0 from any suitable ball or bobbin (not herein illustrated) through a guide 0 at the upper front corner of the needle-bar. The needle is hollow, and the cord passes down through it and normally projects slightly below its lower end, as better shown in Fig. 10, ready to be seized and drawn out at the proper time to form the tag-loop. To normally hold the cord in this position with its end projecting slightly from the lower end of the needle, a clamping device is provided, consisting in this instance of a pin 0 rigidly mounted in the front end 0 of a bell-crank lever 0 which is loosely pivoted on a stud c, that projects from the side of the needle-arm just behind and above the needle. A spring 0 engages the back of said bell-crank to normally throw the pin 0 downward against the upper mouth of the needle, and thus clamp the cord within the latter; but the bell-crank may be oscillated against said spring by a link 0 which engages a stud c on the upper end 0 of the bell-crank and which is connected at its rear end with a stud c ,that projects from the upper end of a second bell-crank 0 This latter belbcrank is pivotally mounted on the shaft A at the rear of the machine and has a wrist-pin or stud e at its front end resting upon a cam 0 The link C is slotted at its forward end to engage the stud 0 to provide sufficient lost motion to permit the spring 0 to throw the bell-crank (1 forward and downward, as described, in all positions of the needle-arm, except when the cam O actuates the bell-crank O and draws the link 0 and bell-crank C back against the tension of said springs 0 In the lowermost position of the needle 0 its point projects downwardly between clam ping-jaws D and D, that are designed to close upon the projecting end of the cord and draw it out when the needle rises again. Said jaws D D are carried at the forward end of an oscillatory lever D which is also mounted on the shaft A at the rear of the machine and which is given a rising-and-falling oscillatory movement by a laterally-projecting stud or wrist-pin d, that projects into a cam-groove 01 in the face of a cam D which is rigidly secured on the drive-shaft B. The j awD is simply a rigid projection or finger on the end of this lever, while the jaw D is formed by the forward extremity of a bell-crank lever D, which is pivotally secured at d in a slot (1 in said lever D The rear end of this bell-crank projects laterally out of this slot and is provided at its extremity with a stud d from which a link d extends rearwardly through a lug d on the lever D and is provided with a spring 01 acting against a collar and nut d in such manner as to normally pull back 011 the bell-crank D and hold the jaws closed. To open the jaws and release the cord, a vertically-arranged barD is mounted to oscillate bodily toward and from the lever D in radial arms d and 61 which are pivoted on a common vertical axis by being rigidly secured to ,the upper and lower ends of a vertical shaft d, mounted in a bracket a on the main frame. A stud D projects from the lower radial arm (1 into proximity to the cam D and is adapted to be engaged by a cam-block (Z on the periphery of said cam, so that at one point in each revolution of the shaft the bar D will be swung bodily against the bell-crank D and will force the latter over to open the jaw D away from the jaw D. This movement is independent of and does not interfere with the upward and downward movement of the jaws as their supporting-lever D is oscillated, the vertical length of the bar D being great enough to permit it to properly engage the bell-crank D in any position of the lever D (See Fig. 5.)

To form the bight or loop in the cord, the machine is provided with a vertically and laterall y movable stud or finger E, which is herein shown as projecting forwardly from the upper end of a slide E, that is mounted in vertical guides E and is arranged to be reciprocated vertically by an oscillatory lever E The latter is keyed to the front end of a stubshaft E", mounted in a bracket a that depends from the front of the main frame, as better shown in Figs. 2 and 7, the rear end of the shaft being provided with a rigidly-attached arm E having at its upper end a stud or wrist-pin e, which engages a peripheral cam-slot e in a cam E", which is rigidly scoured on the drive-shaft B. The free end of the lever E is slotted to embrace a forwardlyprojecting stud e on the slide E, the slot in the lever being made long enough to permit a considerable lateral movement of the slide. This lateral movement of the slide E is due to the movement of its guides E which are themselves mounted to slide horizontally on a guidebar e (Better shown in Figs. 1 and 3.) The guides E are actuated by an oscillatory lever E which is arranged in an inclined position, with its lower end pivoted to a depending bracket a of the main frame and its upper end pivoted to the guides E at a, said lever being provided between its ends with a IIO projecting stud or wrist-pin e which engages a cam-slot c in the periphery of the cam C (See Figs. 1 and 3.)

The knot-tying operation is accomplished by the conjoint action of a knotter-head F and fork G. The latter constitutes the outer end of an oscillatory lever G, which is rigidly secured to the upper end of a vertical shaft g, mounted in a bracket 64 on the front of the main frame. Said shaft is provided at its lower end with a rigidly-attached crank-arm G having a stud g, from which a cam-link G leads rearwardly and is forked to embrace the drive-shaft, as shown in Fig. 5. A laterally-projecting stud or wrist-pin g on this cam-link engages a cam-slot g in the face of the cam D so that as the shaft 13 rotates the fork-arm will be oscillated to move the nut or fork into and out of its operative position, as required.

The knotter-head F is formed by the ends of two telescoping shafts f and f, which are mounted in bearing-brackets a and a on the front of the machine-frame, so that they extend longitudinally of the latter. The inner shaftf slides on a feather within the shaftf, so that it is obliged to rotate therewith, but can be moved lengthwise thereof. A pair of projecting fingers f and f are formed on the ends of the inner and outer shafts fandf, respectively, and the longitudinal movement ofthe shafts-with respect to each other is for the purpose of bringing these fingers together or separating them at proper times to grip or release the cord, as required. The two shafts are revolved or oscillated back and forth at proper times by an oscillating lever F which is pivoted at F to a forwardly-proj ectin g rigid arm a of the inner bracket a atthe rear of the machine-frame. A Wrist-pin or studf projects laterally from this arm into a camslot f in the side face of the cam E, by which the arm is oscillated as the drive-shaft rotates,and the arm is provided at'its free outer end with a broad-faced tooth-segment F that intermeshes with a gear F on the outer shaft f, so that as the arm is oscillated the gear F and consequently the shafts f and f, are given a rotary movement in one direction or the other, as the case may be. The shaft f is mounted to slide bodilyin its bearings in the brackets to and (0 carrying with it the inner shaftf, this endwise movement being accomplished by an oscillatory lever F, which is pivoted at f to the depending bracket a of the main frame and which is provided with a rearwardly-projecting wrist-pin or stud f that engages a cam-slot f in the periphery of a cam F that is also rigidly secured upon the drive-shaft B. A stud f projects forwardly from the upper end of the lever F into a grooved collar f, that is secured on the end of the shaft f, so that the latter will be moved endwise by the oscillations of said lever without interfering with the rotation of the shaft. The endwise movement of the outer and inner shafts with respect to each other is acoomplished,so far as the separation or opening apart of the knotter-fingers is concerned, bya bell-crank F which is pivotally mounted at f between the ends of a bifurcated lug f that is rigidly sleeved on the shaft f to rotate therewith. The inner end of this bellcrank extends freely through a slot f in the outer shaft f and fits closely within a slot f in the inner shaft f. The outer end of the bell-crank is provided with a stud f which is arranged to contact with the outer surface of the bearing-bracket (t the upper or hearing portion of which is made of irregular shape to form a cam 0. The end stud f of the bellcrank travels over the surface of this cam in the reciprocation and oscillation of the shaft f, owing to the rigid connection between said shaft and the bifurcated lug f, which carries the bell-crank. The stud is held in contact with the surface of the cam at all times by a spring F mounted on the end of the innor shaftf, which is extended out of and beyond the shaft f at its end opposite the knotter-head for this purpose. A cup-shaped washer f 17 partially incloses the spring, which is compressed between the washer and the adjacent end of the shaft f, the washer being adjustably held on the shaft by nuts f, by turning which the tension of the spring may be varied as desired. With this construction the knotter-fingers f and f are held yieldingly together by the spring whenever permitted by the position of the bell-crank F the contact of the free end of which with the cam a forces the fingers apart or permits them to be closed by the spring, as may be required at different stages in the knotting operation.

The severing of the cord after the knot is completed is accomplished by shears H, which are herein shown as carried at the forward end 72 of an oscillatory lever H, that is rigidly secured to the upper end of a pivot-shaft H mounted vertically in a bracket a on the main frame. The lower end of this shaft is provided with a laterally-projecting rigid arm H which is connected with a cam-link H that extends rearwardly to the drive-shaft and is forked at h to embrace the latter. A stud h projects laterally from said link into a cam-groove h in the adjacent side face of the cam G so that as the drive-shaft revolves the lever H is oscillated to give bodily movement to the shears H. This movement is such as to project the jaws past the cord, with the blades of the shears on opposite sides of the latter, and the same movement is then made to accomplish the closing of the blades upon the cord to sever it by means of links h which are slotted at their rear ends at 72. to embrace a common stud H that projects upwardly from the main frame. As the shears are moved bodily toward the cord these links slide upon the stud until the latter occupies the extremity of their slots, whereupon their further bodily movement is prevented, and

the continued movement of the lever-arm H results in the closing of the shear-jaws by reason of the pull of the links upon the rear 611?.fi0f the shears, to which they are pivoted at z The operation of the machine thus described is as follows, reference being had more particularly to Figs. 11 to 25 of the drawings: The tag T to be strung is placed upon the table I, with its perforation 15 directly below the needle O. The table I is shown in Fig. 2 and more in detail in Fig. 30, but is omitted from Fig. 1 for the sake of clearness of the illustration and is cut away in Fig. 3 for the same reason, so that it only shows in section in this figure. Guide-stopsi on the table determine the correct position of the tag, these stops being located in whatever posit-ion may be necessary to bring the eye of the particular size or variety of tag to be operated on properly beneath the needle. The descent of the latter then carries the needle and cord down through the perforation or eye of the tag and between the clamping-jaws D D, as shown in Fig. 11, wherein the point of the needle will be seen projecting slightly below said jaws, with the end of the cord S projecting down still farther. The object of causing the end of the needle itself to pass between the jaws is to insure this extremity of the cord being carried between said jaws instead of being deflected to one side and caught on top of the jaws, as might easily occur if the downward movement of the end of the needle terminated above the jaws. The needle then rises, and as it clears the jaws the latter close upon the cord, as shown in Fig. 11, and draw it out through the needle during the continued upward movement of the latter, the clamping-pin 0" being lifted away from the upper mouth of the needle to permit the string to run through at this time. At the moment the jaws close upon the end of the cord the looper stud or finger E occupies a position at the right of and slightly above and back of the jaws, and as the needle rises this stud moves to the left to the position shown in Fig. 11", the cord above the stud being deflected by this movement sufiiciently to move the tag T, through which it has been passed, out of line with the upward movement of the jaws. Such upward movement of the jaws then immediately follows, said jaws rising to a point just below the uppermost position of the point of the needle and carrying with them the free end of the cord. In the meantime the loop or finger E will have descended to its lowermost position to form the tag-loop L of the length desired, the pin a lifting at the proper moment to permit the cord to run out through the needle to form the loop. This position of the parts is shown in Fig. 11, in which the knotter-head also appears, it being projected at this moment into operative position with relation to the upper end of the loop. At the moment of its projection the fingers f and f of the knotter head are turned away from the cord, as shown in Fig. 12, in which and in the succeeding figures up to Fig. 25 but a single strand of cord is shown for the sake of clearness of illustration; but it will of course be understood that both of the strands of the loop are operated upon and that the knot actually tied is that shown in Fig. 25. The next succeeding step in the operation is the rotation of the knotter-head through one-half of a revolution until its fingers project past the cord to the rear, this movement being accompanied by the swinging of the knotter-fork G rearwardly past the cord on its other or right-hand side, the knotter-head being understood to have been projected far enough to place its fingers f and f to the left of the cord. The knotter-head is then drawn back by an endwise movement of the shaft f until the string is carried into the position shown in Figs. 15 and 16. A three-quarter revolution of the knotter in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 15 then twists the cord into a loop about the knotter-fingers, as shown in Figs. 17 and 18. The fork G is next withdrawn and the knotter-head simultaneously projected until its fingers stand immediately in front and one on each side of the line of the cord, as shown in Figs. 19 and 20. A further quarterturn of the knotter in the same direction as before then brings the upwardly-extending portion of the cord between the knotter-fingers, which immediately close upon it, as shown in Figs. 21 and 22, it being understood that said fingers up to this point have been maintained separated or in position to admit the cord between them in the manner described. Such closing of the fingers upon the cord is accompanied by the projection of the shears H to sever the cord, as also shown in Figs. 21 and 22, the point of severance being as close above the knotter as possible to save waste and being just far enough below the end of the needle to leave a projecting end of string long enough for the jaws to grasp in the succeeding operation. As soon as the cord is severed the knotter-head rotates still further in the same direction until its fingers point downwardly, as shown in Fig. 23, whereupon the tension of the loop causes the knot to slip from the fingers and tightens the knot to completion, the fingers of the knotter opening up immediately thereafter to permit the withdrawal of the tag, with its completed loop properly tied through it. The kind of knot tied in this manner is shown singly in Fig. 24 and in its actual or two-strand form in Fig. 25.

As soon as the cord to form the loop has been supplied by running out through the needle, as described, the pin 0 drops down again against the upper mouth of the needle and prevents the end of the cord from being Withdrawn after it has been cut off by the shears, the clamping action of said pin against the cord being sufficient to leave the end of the cord which extends down through the needle ITO and projects therefrom free from any strain during the succeeding downward stroke of the needle by which it is threaded through the next tag placed on the table. The severing of the cord is also followed by the lowering of the clamping-jaws D D to their lowermost position and the opening of the same to permit the passage of the needle between them again in the manner before described, this lowering of the jaws being preceded by the withdrawal of the knotter-head into its re tracted position (shown in Figs. 1 and 2) and being accompanied by the rise of the looperfinger E to its position above the lowermost position of the jaws and to the right of the cord and needle.

For the purpose of enabling the string to be readily inserted in the needle the latter is shown as formed of a pair of split tubes 0 and 0, adapted to telescope into each other and flanged at their upper ends, so that when slipped downwardly through a counterbored socket in a lug c of the needle-arm 0 they will be held from dropping through by the seating of their flanges within the cou nterbore. Said lug is also slotted, as shown at 0 so that when the tubes are rotated to bring their slots into register with each other and with the slot in the lug an open lateral passage is formed into the bore of the needle, so that the cord can be thrust sidewise into the latter. When the cord is in place, the needle is closed by ro-' tating the outer tube to carry its slot out of register with the slot of the inner tube, and a complete circular washer e is then dropped into the counterbore above the flange of the inner tube to form a seat for the pin 0 I claim as my invention- 1. In a tag-stringing machine, the combination with a vibrating needle for inserting the cord through the eye of the tag, of a clamp for grasping the inserted end of the cord, means for vibrating the clamp to draw out the cord and form the loop, a normally-retracted fork arranged to be projected into proximity to the strands of the loop, a normally-retracted knotter-head arranged to be projected between the projected fork-arms, clamping-fingers on the knotter-head for grasping the strands of the loop, and means for reciprocating and oscillating the knotter-head.

' 2. In atag-stringing machine, the combination with a vibrating needle for inserting the cord through the eye of the tag, of a clamp for grasping the inserted end of the cord, means for vibrating the clamp to draw out the cord and form the loop, a looping-finger around which the cord is carried by the clamp,

means for vibrating said finger to move the.

tag laterally out of the path of the clamp, a normally-retracted fork arranged to be projected into proximity to' the strand of the loop, a normally-retracted knotter-head ar-v ranged to be projected between the projected fork-arms, clamping-fingers on the knotterhead for grasping the strands of the loop, means for reciprocating and oscillating the knotter-head to form the knot, and means for severing the cord above the knot.

3. A cord-knotter comprising means for guiding the cord, a knotter-head formed by two telescoping shafts, coacting fingers on the ends of the shafts, means for moving the innershaft longitudinally within the outer shaft to open and close the fingers, comprising a bracket fixed to the outer shaft to rotate therewith, a bell-crank lever pivotally mounted in said bracket with one of itsends projecting through an aperture in the outer shaft to engage the inner shaft, and with its other end movably in contact with a cam-surface surrounding the shaft, means for giving rotary and longitudinal movement to the shafts together, and a spring resisting the separate endwise movement of the inner shaft by the bell-crank lever.

4. A cord-knotter comprising means for guiding the cord, a knotter-head formed by two telescoping shafts, coacting fingers on the ends of the shafts, means for moving the in ner shaft longitudinally within the outer shaft to open and close the fingers comprising a bracket mounted on the outer shaft to rotate therewith, a bell-crank lever pivotallymounted in said bracket with one of its ends pro j ecting through an aperture in the outer shaft to engage the inner shaft, and with its other end movably in contact with a stationary cam= surface, and means for giving rotary and lon= gitudinal movement to the shafts.

5. A cord-knotter head formed by two telescoping shafts of which the inner shaft pro jects from the outer shaft at both ends, coacting fingers on the shafts at one end, a spring mounted on the inner shaft at the other end and operating against the outer shaft to normally close said fingers, a bracket fixed to the outer shaft to rotate therewith, a bell-crank lever pivotally mounted in said bracket with one end engaging the inner shaft and with its other end in contact with a cam-surface, and means for giving rotary and longitudinal movement to the shafts.

6. A shear mechanism, comprising blades mounted on an oscillatory lever, means for swinging said lever to project the blades, links pivotally connected to the rear ends of the blades, slots in said links, and a pin pass ing through the slots of both links and limiting their movements to close the blades as the latter are projected.

7. The combination with a rising-and-falb ing cord-supplying needle, of a cord-clamp arranged to rise and fall beneath the needle and adapted to grasp the end of the cord, a looping-finger having a rising-and-falling and lateral movement, means for closing the clamp upon the cord at the lower end of the needle movement, means for moving the clamp upward after the rising needle, means for moving the looping finger laterally beneath the rising needle and above the clamp, means for lowering said looping-finger, a cord-knotter arranged to be projected to op- ICC erate on the loop below the upper position of the needle and clamp, and means for severing the cord between the knot and needle.

8. In a cord-looping machine, the combination with a cord-supplying part, of a clamp for grasping the end of the cord, 2. loopingfinger around which the cord is passed, arising-and-falling slide upon which said finger is mounted, a laterally-movable guide-plate on which said slide is mounted, and a cordknotter for knottin g the loop.

9. In a loop-forming machine, the combination with a cord-supplying needle, a looping-finger around which the cord is passed, a clamp for grasping the end of the cord comprising a pivoted lever, a cam for imparting a rising-'andialling movement to said lever, a fixed jaw on said lever, a movable jaw pivoted to said lever, and means for moving said pivoted jaw independently of the movement of the lever, and means for knotting the loop.

10. In a looping-machine the combination with a cord-supplying needle, a looping-finger around which the cord is passed, a clamp for grasping the end'of the cord comprising a rising-and-fallin g part carrying a fixed jaw, a movable jaw pivoted thereto, a spring normally pressing the pivoted jaw in one direction, and means for moving said jaw in the other direction against said spring comprising a bar arranged parallel to the plane of movement of the rising-and-falling part, movable supports for said bar, and means for moving the bar toward and away from the jaw.

11. In a looping-machine, the combination with a cord-supplying needle, a looping-finger around which the cord is passed, a clamp for grasping the end of the cord comprisinga pivoted lever, means for imparting a risingand-falling movement to said lever, a jaw pivoted on the lever, a spring normally pressing the jaw in one direction, a movable bar arranged parallel with said lever, and means for forcing the bar against the jaw.

12. A tag-stringing machine, comprising a rising-and-fallin g needle for passing the cord through the tag, a clamp for grasping the end of the cord beneath the tag, a laterally-movable looping-finger for deflecting the cord between the tag and clamp to move the tag laterally out of the path of the clamp, means for raising the clamp to carry the end of the cord around the edge of the tag, and means for knotting the loop above the tag.

13. A tag-stringing machine, comprising a rising-and-falling needle for passing the cord through the tag, a clamp for grasping the end of the cord beneath the tag, a looping-finger having a lateral and rising-and-falling movement for deflecting the cord between the tag and clamp to move the tag laterally out' of the path of the clamp and drawing out the cord to form a loop of desired length, means for raising the clamp to carry the end of the cord around the edge of the tag, and means for knotting the loop above the tag.

14. A looping-machine provided withahollow needle through which the cord is passed, means for forming the loop beneath the needle including means for drawing out the cord through the needle, a bell-crank lever carried on the needle-arm, a spring applied to normally press a part on said lever down over the mouth of the lever to clamp the cord therein, a second bell-crank mounted on the needle-arm pivot and connected at one end with the first bellcrank, and means for osoillating said second bell-crank to uncover the mouth of the needle and permit the cord to be drawn out through the latter.

15. The combination with the needle-arm having a countersunk needle-receiving lug, of a needle comprising'a split or slotted outer tube inserted through said lug, a slotted inner tube inserted through said lug and outer tube, a slot in the lug with which the slots in the tubes are adapted to be brought into register, said outer tube being arranged to rotate relatively to the inner tube and lug, and a circular washer inserted in the lug above the tubes.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affiX my signature hereto, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 13th day of March, 1899.

WVALTER S. MCKINNEY.

\Vitnesses:

HENRY W. CARTER, ALBERT II. GRAVES. 

